RENO, Nev. -- The Aggies would not be denied in the second half.
Tai Wesley scored 21 points and Utah State rallied late to defeat Nevada 81-67 on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center.
Brockeith Pane added 17 points and Brady Jardine had 14 for the Aggies (14-2, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference), who extended their conference winning streak to 17.
Olek Czyz scored 25 points and Malik Story added 18 for the Wolf Pack (4-12, 1-2).
Nevada led 49-39 with 13:54 to play before Utah State went on a 15-3 run to pull ahead 54-52 with 9:24 remaining.
The Wolf Pack then tied it on two free throws by Deonte Burton, but the Aggies answered with a 7-2 run to go up 61-54.
Nevada pulled to within 71-67 with 2:58 left after a jumper by Burton and three free throws by Czyz but did not score again. Utah State hit 7-of-8 free throws, and Pane made a 3-pointer in the final minutes to seal the victory.
* UTAH VALLEY 93, CHICAGO STATE 82: At Chigago, Isiah Williams scored 22 points to lead Utah Valley past Chicago State in the Great West Conference opener for both teams.
Williams struggled from the field, making just 5 of 18 shots, but three of those were 3-pointers, and he converted 9 of 13 free throws for the Wolverines (8-8), who won the game at the free-throw line, outscoring the Cougars (3-14) 36-20.
Justin Baker added 14 points for Utah Valley, and Holton Hunsaker and Ben Aird scored 12 points each.
Utah Valley led 40-38 at the half and pulled away late in the game to hand Chicago State its fifth consecutive loss. The Cougars' previous four losses were by an average of 37 points per contest.
Jonathon Montgomery led Chicago State with 20 points. Carl Montgomery, selected the Great West player of the week on Monday after his 30-point performance in a 99-72 loss to TCU on Dec. 28, scored 17.
* UMKC 82, SOUTHERN UTAH 76: At Kansas City, Mo., Jay Couisnard scored a career-best 32 points to lead UMKC to a victory over Southern Utah.
Couisnard went 11 of 16 from the floor, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, for the Kangaroos (9-7, 2-3 Summit). Spencer Johnson had 21 points and a team-leading six rebounds.
UMKC shot 58.3 percent (28 of 48) and went a season-best 60.0 percent (9 of 15) from 3-point territory.
Matt Massey's 24 points and eight rebounds led the Thunderbirds (4-11, 1-4). Jackson Stevenett added 17 points, Ryan Brimley 12 and Ray Jones 11.
After breaking a 4-4 tie early in the game, UMKC stayed in control the rest of the way. The first-half gap topped out at 35-18, and the Kangaroos led 41-34 at halftime.
Couisnard's layup stretched the lead to 73-58 with 3:30 left before the Thunderbirds pared the deficit to 79-74 but could get no closer.
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